Rotary amusement device



March 21, 1933. 5 J sw so 1,901,935

ROTARY AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Oct. 21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 21, 1933. s. J. SNANSON ROTARY AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Oct. 21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 21, 1933 ea'rarer erase swan J. SWANSON, on em. LOUIS, Mrssonar.

ROTARY AMUSEMENT DEVICE Application filed October 21,1929. Serial No. 401,034.

This invention relates to a rotary amusement device, or roundabout, adapted to be driven by one or more persons riding on the device, and one of the objects of the invention is to produce a simple structure of this type including operating means which may be easily and conveniently actuated by aperson or persons supported on the rotary structure.

More specifically stated, an object of the in- 0 vention is to provide improved means whereby a rider on the structure may cause rotary motion to be imparted to the rotary portion thereof.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved amusement device.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale of the upper portion of the device.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail illustrating a modified form of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein is shown for the purpose of illustration, merely, several embodiments of the invention, A designates my improved device as a whole, said device including a vertically disposed standard or supportv 1, preferably tubular in. form. The standard 1 at its lower end is extended into an element 2 (Fig. 1) ,which is supported by a plurality of members 3 arranged to provide a base 4 for the device A. At a point adjacent to the upper end thereof the standard 1 has fixed thereto a sleeve 5 provided with an outwardly extended, annular flange 6. 7 designates tie rods which are connected at their upper ends to the flange 6 and at their lower ends to the members 3 providing the base 4 of the device, whereby the standard 1 is provided with the required stability.

Arranged within the tubular standard 1 is an axially rotatable shaft 8. At the upper end of the vertical shaft 8 a tubular element 9 is fixed to said shaft, for instance by means of a pin 10, and said tubular element is provided with an upper annular flange 11 and a lower annular flange 12 of larger diameter than said upper annular flange 11. At the under side of the lower annular flange 12 same is provided with a portion 13 of increased thickness, said portion 13 being provided with a recess 14 in the top wall of which a ball raceway 15 is formed.

Extended outwardly in opposite directions from the tubular element 9 is a pair of beams 16, each of said beams at its innerend being supported by the lower flange 12 of the tubular element 9, and said lower flange 12 being provided with pairsof spaced apart upwardly extended ribs 17 between which the inner ends of the beams 16 are disposed. 18 designates suitable fastening devices by means of which the beams are secured to the flange 12.

Fixed to the tubular standard 1 at the top thereof is a sleeve 19 provided with an upper portion of increased thickness and 20 designates an annular raceway formed in the top face of said sleeve. The raceway 20 is arranged in coincidence with the raceway 15 already referred to in a vertical direction, and anti-friction balls 21 are disposed in said raceways 15 and 20, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the element 9 may rotate freely with respect to the sleeve 19 and standard 1.

Arranged about the standard 1 at a point between the sleeves 5 and 19 (Fig. 2) is a drum 22, said drum having a hub portion 23 of reduced length, and spokes 24 being extended radially from said hub portion to the annular wall of the drum. The drum22 is fixed to the standard 1 by suitable means, such as the fastening device 25, and at the inner face of said drum same is provided with an upper row of corrugations 26 and'a lower row of corrugations 27.

Arranged within the drum 22 at one side thereof is a pair of driving elements 28 and 29, each of which comprises a member 30 having an inner portion provided with an opening 31 through which the standard 1 extends. As shown in Fig. 3, the outer end' of each member 30 is spaced'inwardly from the inner face of the annular wall of the drum 22, and each member 30 has associated with it a member 32, said member 32 being slidably attached to the associated member 30 by means of a suitable strap 33. At the outer end thereof each member 32 is provided with an arcuate portion 34 provided with corrugations on the outer facethereof, and each member 32 is forced outwardly with respect to the standard 1 by an expansible coil spring 35, which is interposed between the inner end of said member 32 and a shouL der 36 formed on the associated member 30 (Fig. 3). The toothed portions of the members 32 are arranged to cooperate with the rows of corrugations 26 and 27 on the drum 22. Associated with each of the driving elements 28 and 29 is a bell crank lever 37, said bell crank lever being pivoted at 38 to the member 30 and one leg 37 a of said bell crank lever being pivotally connected at 39 to the associated member 32. The other leg 37 of the bell crank lever 37 preferably is longer than the first mentioned leg and extends outwardly beyond the outer face of the drum 22.

At the side of the drum 22 opposite to that at which the driving elements 28 and 29 are located, I locate a second pair of driving elements 40 and 41 which cooperate with the annular rows of corrugations 26 and 27, respectively. The driving elements 40 and 41 are constructed and arranged just as are the driving elements 28 and 29 already described; that is to say, each of said driving elements includes a member 30, a member 32 slidably associated with the member 30 and provided with an outer arcuate end portion 34 provided with corrugations, and a bell crank lever 37 pivoted at 38 to the associated member 30 and pivotally connected at 39 to the associated member 32. Likewise, each bell crank lever associated with the driving elements 40 and 41 is provided with a leg 37, which extends outwardly beyond the outer face of the drum 22. It will be noted that the members 30 of the driving elements 28 and 41 have ofi'set inner portions, so that the outer portions of the members 30 of the driving elements 28 and 40 and the outer portions of the members 30 of the driving elements 29 and 41 may be in the same horizontal plane, while the inner portions of said associated members 30 are offset with respect to each other in a vertical direction.

Secured to the outer end of each of the beams 16 is a bracket 42 provided with a pair of downwardly extended, spaced apart ears 43, said ears either being formed integral with the brackets 42 or being in the form of separate elements secured thereto. Mounted between the pair of cars supported by each bracket 42 on a short shaft 44 supported by said shaft is a rocker arm 44. Each rocker arm has suspended from its opposite ends a pair of flexible elements, such as chains 45, at the lower ends of which stirrups 46 are attached. -The short shafts 44, in addition to supporting the rocker arms 44, support each an arm 47, and attached to each of said arms 47 at the opposite ends thereof is a pair of rods 48 and 49. The rods 48 and 49', connected to the arm 47 at one side of the device, are connected at their opposite ends to the legs 37 of the bell crank levers 37 associated with the driving elements 28 and 29, and the rods 48 and 49, connected to the arm 47 at the opposite side of the device, are connected at their opposite ends to the legs 37" of the bell crank levers 37 associated with the driving elements 40 and 41. The brackets 42 are each provided with an upwardly extended portion 42, to which tie rods 50 are attached, said tie rods at their opposite ends being attached to the upper flange 11 of the elements 9 at the top of the device.

Extended downwardly from one of the beams 16 is a rod 51 (Fig. 1), which supports at its lower end a brake band 52. The brake band 52 is arranged adjacent to the peripheral face of the drum 22 and extends substantially one-half of the distance around said drum, and at the end of said band opposite to the end thereof which is attached to the rod 51 said band is connected to a vertically disposed crank arm 53. The crank arm 53 is mounted for axial rotation in a bearing 54 fixed to one of the beams 16, and at the upper end of said crank arm same has fixed thereto an arm 55 provided with eyes 56 and 57 located at the opposite ends of the arm 55. Secured to the eye 56 is a flexible element 58, a rope, for instance, which passes through an eye 59 and hangs downwardly adjacent to the flexible elements 45 at one side of the device, and secured to the eye 57 is a similar flexible element 58 which passes through an eye 60 and hangs downwardly adjacent to the flexible element 45 at the opposite side of the device.

In the use of my improved device, the riders will stand in the stirrups 46 and will grasp the flexible elements 45, and on moving the feet alternately up and down the rocker arms 44 will be oscillated to impart oscillatory movement to the shafts 44. Oscillation of the shafts 44 will result in the arms 47 being rocked and therefore the rods 48 and 49 connected at the opposite ends of said arms 47 will be moved longitudinally of their major axes in opposite directions; that is to say, the rods 48 will be moved inwardly with respect to the device when the rods 49 are being moved outwardly with respect thereto, and vice versa. iVhen any one of the rods 48 and 49 is moved inwardly with respect to the device A, the bell crank lever 37 to-which said rod is attached will be moved about its pivot 38, whereby the associated member 32 will be moved inwardly with respect to the associated member 30, thus moving the corrugations on the portion 34 of said member 32 away from the associated corrugations on the drum 22. Also, this-movement of the rod will move the entire driving element in an arc of a circle about the standard 1 of the device A. Vhen the rod reaches the inner extent of its movement as imparted thereto by the associated arm 47,

the direction of travel of said rod will be reversed and the bell crank lever 37 will be moved about its pivot 38 to move the corrugations on the portion 34 of the associated member 32 into contact with the associated corrugations on the drum 22. This will result in the driving element being locked to the stationary drum 22, and continued movement of the associated arm 47 in the same direction will result in the rotatable portion of the device, which rotatable portion includes the beams 16 and the element 9, being moved about the stationary standard 1. It is apparent that as one pair of the driving elements, the elements 28 and 40, for instance, are gripping the drum and hence are feeding the rotary portion of the device about the standard 1, the other driving elements, the elements 29 and 41, for instance, are moving idly to a position where the elements 32 of said driving elements will engage the teeth on the drum, whereupon the driving elements 29 and 41 will serve as the driving means for the rotary portion of the device, and the elements 28 and 40 will move idly.

It is obvious, therefore, that the feeding operations of the driving elements are continuous, whereby continuous rotary motion is imparted to the rotary portion of the device.

If desired, I may eliminate the corrugations on the portion 34 of the member 32, and in this event the driving elements will appear as illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein the inner face of the drum 22 and the outer face of the portion 34 of the member 32 are comparatively smooth. Also, instead of employing the flexible elements 45 I may provide my swing with seats or other supports for the riders. Likewise, I may employ a single mechanism for operating the driving elements which is actuated by an attendant, the riders having nothing to do with the operation of the device.

When the device is in operation and it is desired to bring the rotating portion of the device to a stop, either of the flexible elements 58 or 58 may be drawn downwardly, whereby the crank arm 53 will be rotated to cause the brake band 52 to grip the outer face of the drum 22, whereby movement of the rotating portions of the device will be retarded.

I claim:

1. A device comprising a stationary supporting portion and a rotatable portion, an

element fixed to said stationary supporting portion, and means for imparting movement to said rotatable portion, said means including a pair of alternately operable gripping devices, means for guiding said gripping devices in a straight line, said gripping devices being movable with said rotatable portion and being arranged to alternately grip said element, and means associated with said gripping devices for imparting rotary movement to the rotatable portion of the device when the gripping devices are in engagement with said element.

2. A device comprising a stationary supporting portion and a rotatable portion, an element fixed to said stationary supporting portion, and means for imparting movement to said rotatable portion, said means including a pair of alternately operable gripping devices, means for guiding said gripping devices in a straight line, said gripping devices being movable with said rotatable portion and being arranged to alternately grip said element, and means associated with said gripping devices for imparting rotary movement to the rotatable portion of the device when the gripping devices are in engagement with said element, said means including a rockable arm and connecting elements for connecting the respective gripping devices to said rockable arm.

3. A device comprising a stationary supporting portion and a rotatable portion, an element fixed to said stationary supporting portion, and means for imparting movement to said rotatable portion, said means including a pair of alternately operable gripping devices, means for guiding said gripping devices in a straight line, said gripping devices being movable with said rotatable portion and being arranged to alternately grip said element, and means associated with said gripping devices for imparting rotary movement to the rotatable portion of the device when the gripping devices are in engagement with said element, said means including a rockable arm, connecting elements for connecting the respective gripping devices to said rockable arm, and means for rocking said rockable arm.

4. An amusement device comprising a stationary supporting portion and a rotatable portion, an element fixed to said stationary supporting portion, and means for imparting rotary movement to said rotatable portion, said means including a gripping device movable with said rotatable portion and adapted to grip said element, and means associated with said gripping device for imparting rotary motion to the rotatable portion of the device when the gripping device is in engagement with said element, said gripping device comprising an arm rotatable about a portion of said stationary support, a second arm movable with respect to the first mentioned arm, and a bell crank lever pivotally supported by the first mentioned, arm and connected to the second mentioned arm whereby gripping movement is imparted to the second mentioned arm on pivotal movement of the bell crank lever.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto aflix my signature.

SWAN J. SWANSON. 

